Operational car leasing: 75% growth in Ireland by 2005

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Elan: trying to save a would-be blockbuster

The temporary suspension, on reports of worrying side effects, rocked shareholder confidence in Ireland's largest public company. Investors fear that one of Elan's two lead compounds may never generate revenue. The company may be able to save AN-1792, in which case it could still be a blockbuster drug - but the risks attached are high.

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Fuel retailing: Irish to pump up the volume at 6.7% per year

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mmO2: it's all about networking

Consolidating infrastructure contracts will bring major cash savings, and therefore seems sensible. More interesting, though, is the outsourcing deal: mmO2's Dutch business will effectively become a virtual operator, with Ericsson managing its entire network. This could be a good model for other mid-to-small scale mobile operators to adopt.

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Alzheimer's disease: an opportunity for expansion?

Alzheimer's disease is reaching epidemic proportions. However, less than half of those affected seek diagnosis, mistakenly believing that there are no effective treatments available. With the number of sufferers set to triple in the next 30-40 years, many drug companies are battling to grab a share of this lucrative market, but will they be able to develop drugs effective enough to capitalize?

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Ryanair: flying high profits

Ryanair made record profits last year by providing a cheaper alternative to the larger airlines, addressing the market for cheap flights to popular destinations. The record profits, in sharp contrast to BA's announcement of its largest losses since privatization, show that there is still money to be made in the airline business.

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Ryanair: soaring profits

Low cost airline Ryanair has announced record Q1 profits. The Ireland-based airline has been unaffected by the troubles which have afflicted many traditional flag carrying airlines and has, along with other low cost pioneers, helped to completely change the airline business model. However, in the long term, European railways may be the real losers.

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Novuspharma: lending a hand to Micromet

Novuspharma has agreed to co-develop Micromet's MT201, the only fully human antibody in development that targets the Ep-CAM molecule. The companies plan to begin phase II trials for the drug, across a wide range of cancers. Novuspharma's expertise and experience in oncology will aid MT201's development, but the companies will also need an experienced marketing partner.

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British Airways: going down with a red face

BA has lost its top-flight status by dropping out of the FTSE 100. While the news is bad enough for the group, low cost airline Ryanair's decision to issue a statement saying it was applying to take their place was worse still. Since the Irish airline is not eligible to join the FTSE 100, the aim of its statement is clear - to further humiliate its archrival.

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Bank of Ireland/Abbey National: more merger speculation

Bank of Ireland's bid for Abbey is another move in a long line of M&A speculation that has rocked the UK retail banking sector in recent years; it has perhaps come as no surprise to Abbey's long suffering investors. The chances that the proposal will be accepted are fairly good - although negative reaction from BoI shareholders could still scupper the deal.

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